Arthur Lowe

Arthur Lowe (22 September 1915 – 15 April 1982) was a British actor. His acting career spanned nearly 40 years, including starring roles in numerous theatre and television productions. He played Captain Mainwaring in the British sitcom Dad's Army from 1968 until 1977, was nominated for seven BAFTAs and became one of the most recognised faces on television.

Arthur Lowe
Lowe as Captain Mainwaring in Dad's Army
Born(1915-09-22)22 September 1915
Died15 April 1982(1982-04-15) (aged 66)
Birmingham, England [2]
Resting placeSutton Coldfield Crematorium, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England
OccupationActor
Years active1945–1982
Spouse(s)
(m. 1948; his death 1982)
[3]
Children1

Lowe began his working life shortly before the Second World War (1939–1945) and he featured in many theatrical performances after the war. It was not until he landed the part of Leonard Swindley in the British television soap Coronation Street that he became a household name. He played the character until 1966, while continuing film work. In 1968 he took on his role in Dad's Army, written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft. His success as this character led to considerable television and theatrical work, which put pressure on his health. Lowe's final years were dominated by alcoholism and illness and he died from a stroke on 15 April 1982, aged 66.

Early life

Lowe was born in Hayfield, Derbyshire, the only child of “Big” Arthur (1888–1971) and Mary Annie “Nan” Lowe (née Ford, 1885–1981). His father worked for a railway company and was in charge of moving theatrical touring companies around Northern England and the Midlands, using special trains.[4] The younger Arthur went to Chapel Street Junior School in Chapel Street, Levenshulme, Manchester.

His original intention was to join the Merchant Navy but this was thwarted by his poor eyesight. Working at an aircraft factory, he joined the British Army on the eve of the Second World War but not before experiencing his first brush with acting, by working as a stage hand at the Manchester Palace of Varieties. Lowe served in the Middle East with the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry and took part in shows put on for the troops. At the end of the war he was discharged from the army, having served as a radar technician in the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, reaching the rank of Sergeant.[5][6]

Career

Early career

Lowe made his debut at the Manchester Repertory Theatre in 1945, where he was paid £5 per week for twice-nightly performances.[4][7] He worked with repertory companies around the country and became known for his character roles, which included parts in the West End musicals Call Me Madam, Pal Joey and The Pajama Game. An early brief film role was as a reporter for Tit-Bits magazine, near the end of Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949). Lowe married Joan Cooper (1922–1989) on 10 January 1948. They had met in 1945 when she was his leading lady at the Manchester Repertory Theatre and they remained together until his death. Their son, Stephen Lowe, was born on 23 January 1953.[4][7]

By the 1960s Lowe had made the transition to television and landed a regular role as draper/lay preacher Leonard Swindley in the northern soap opera Coronation Street (1960–65). His character received sufficient approval from viewers for him to appear in the spin-off series, Pardon the Expression (1966) and its sequel Turn Out the Lights (1967). Leonard Swindley was not a role Lowe relished and he longed to move on. During the months he was not playing Swindley, he remained busy on stage or making one-off guest appearances in other TV series such as Z-Cars (1962) and The Avengers (1967).

Stardom

In 1968 Lowe was cast in his best remembered role, as Captain Mainwaring in the BBC sitcom Dad's Army (1968–1977). His colleagues on the show later remarked that the role resembled him: pompous and bumbling. Lowe had a clause written into his contract, specifying that he would never have to lose his trousers.[8] He also played Mainwaring's drunken brother Barry Mainwaring, in the 1975 Christmas episode "My Brother and I". Lowe and his character also surfaced in a radio version of Dad's Army, a stage play and a feature-length film released in 1971. While Dad's Army was not in production, Lowe appeared in plays for the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic and the Royal Court Theatre. In 1968, Lowe was invited by Laurence Olivier to act at the National Theatre at the Old Vic and appeared in Somerset Maugham's Home and Beauty in 1968 and later The Tempest in 1974 with John Gielgud.[9]

He also had prominent parts in several films directed by Lindsay Anderson, including if.... (1968) and O Lucky Man! (1973). His other film roles during this period included Spike Milligan's surreal The Bed Sitting Room (1969), in which he mutates into a parrot, a drunken butler in The Ruling Class (1972) with Peter O'Toole and Theatre of Blood (1973), a horror film starring Vincent Price, with Lowe as a critic murdered by the deranged actor played by Price.

On television, he appeared twice as a guest performer on The Morecambe and Wise Show (1971 and 1977), alongside Richard Briers in a series of Ben Travers farces for the BBC, as the pompous Dr Maxwell in the ITV comedy Doctor at Large (1971) and as Redvers Bodkin, a snooty, old-fashioned butler, in the short-lived sitcom The Last of the Baskets (1971–72). Between 1971 and 1973 Lowe joined Dad's Army colleague Ian Lavender, on the BBC radio comedy Parsley Sidings and played Mr Micawber in a BBC television serial of David Copperfield (1974). He employed a multitude of voices on the BBC animated television series Mr. Men (1974), in which he was the narrator.

In 1972, Lowe also recorded the novelty songs "How I Won The War" and "My Little Girl, My Little Boy".[10]

While touring at coastal theatres with his wife, Lowe used his 1885 former steam yacht Amazon as a floating base. He bought Amazon as a houseboat in 1968, but realised her potential and took her back to sea in 1971; this vessel is still operating in the Mediterranean.[11] The ship had a bar with a semicircular notch cut halfway along, to enable both the portly figure of Lowe and his wife to serve behind the bar at the same time, acting as hosts during the parties they threw on board.[12]

In an interview for a Dad's Army retrospective on BBC television in 2010, Lowe's co-star, Clive Dunn, described him sitting at the bar in the evenings when they were filming on location, consuming a drink which Lowe named 'Amazon' after his yacht. Dunn described the drink as comprising "gin and ginger ale, with a single slice of cucumber".[13]

Later career

When Dad's Army ended in 1977, Lowe remained in demand, taking starring roles in television comedies such as Bless Me, Father (1978–1981), as the mischievous Catholic priest Father Charles Clement Duddleswell and in Potter (1979–80) as the busybody Redvers Potter. By now he was making many television commercials, but his later stage career mainly involved touring the provinces, appearing in plays and pantomimes with his wife, Joan.

In 1981 he reprised his role as Captain Mainwaring for the pilot episode of It Sticks Out Half a Mile, a radio sequel to Dad's Army. At Christmas 1981, Lowe appeared in pantomime with his wife. His last film role was in Lindsay Anderson's Britannia Hospital (1982). In January 1982, Richard Burton had his private aeroplane fly Lowe to film a cameo role in the television series Wagner, his last screen performance.

Death

Like his wife, Lowe suffered from alcoholism.[14] In his final years, Lowe's alcoholism worsened and he was reduced to acting in pantomimes and touring theatre productions. Graham Lord's biography recalls that by 1979, Lowe was suffering from major health problems but continued to drink increasing amounts of alcohol, sometimes passing out on stage or at dinner. He was also a heavy smoker and his weight ballooned. Lowe had long suffered from narcolepsy.[5] On 14 April 1982, Lowe gave a live televised interview on Pebble Mill at One.[15] Later the same day, he collapsed from the onset of a stroke in his dressing room at the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, before a performance of Home at Seven, in which he appeared with his wife, Joan. He died in hospital early the following morning, aged 66.

He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at Sutton Coldfield Crematorium, following a sparsely attended funeral. Joan did not attend, as she refused to miss a performance of Home at Seven and was appearing in Belfast at the time. A memorial service was held in May 1982 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, attended by his family, former colleagues and many friends. His last sitcom, A.J. Wentworth, B.A., with Lowe as a boys' preparatory school master, was shown during July and August 1982.

Tom Cole wrote in the Radio Times: "There are few actors who charmed viewers both young and old with such ease, and fewer still who could be trusted with the task of bringing classic literary characters like Charles Pooter and A.J. Wentworth to life." His national acclaim continued well after his death, with a statue of Lowe erected in the town of Thetford, where most of the location work for Dad's Army was filmed. Lowe was respected and admired among colleagues, including Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud. His sudden death received a large number of tributes. Speaking in 2002, Paul Scofield described Lowe as "a rare talent" and a "seriously brilliant actor".

After his death Arthur Lowe received many tributes from British actors. John Inman described Lowe as "a great actor" and John Le Mesurier did the same. Similar tributes were made by Jimmy Perry, who described him as "a very kind man and would go out of his way to help actors less fortunate than himself. His rich comic genius will be sadly missed". Clive Dunn referred to Lowe as one of the greatest "comic actors" he had ever worked with. Graham Lord wrote, in his 2003 biography, that "almost every actor who worked with Arthur considered him to be outstanding".

Memorials

In December 2007 plans were unveiled for a statue of Lowe to be erected in Thetford, Norfolk, where the outside scenes for Dad's Army were filmed.[16]

Statue of Captain Mainwaring, Arthur Lowe's Dad's Army character in Thetford.

The statue was unveiled on 19 June 2010, by the writers of the series, Jimmy Perry and David Croft.[17] The star has also had two blue plaques unveiled, one at Maida Vale and one at his birthplace in Hayfield, Derbyshire.[18][19][20]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1960–65
1965–66
1967
Coronation Street
Pardon the Expression
Turn Out the Lights
Leonard Swindley 241 episodes
1968–77 Dad's Army Captain Mainwaring 80 episodes
1970 Rookery Nook Harold Twine
1970 Turkey Time Edwin Stoatt
1971 Doctor at Large Dr Maxwell
1971–72 The Last of the Baskets Redvers Bodkin
1972 It's Murder, But Is It Art? Phineas Drake
1974 Microbes and Men Louis Pasteur
1974 David Copperfield Wilkins Micawber
1977 Car Across the Pass Galton & Simpson Playhouse
1974–78 Mr Men Narrator and character voices Animated series based on picture books by Roger Hargreaves
1978–81 Bless Me, Father Father Charles Clement Duddleswell
1979 The Plank Slapstick Comedy for TV
1979–82
(Series 3 released 1983)
Potter Redvers Potter
1982 A.J. Wentworth, B.A. Arthur James Wentworth, B.A. Posthumous

Films

Year Title Role Notes
1948 London Belongs to Me Commuter on Train Uncredited
1949 Floodtide Pianist Uncredited
Stop Press Girl Archibald Uncredited
Kind Hearts and Coronets The Reporter
Poet's Pub Coach Guide Uncredited
The Spider and the Fly Town Clerk
Cage of Gold Short Man Uncredited
Gilbert Harding Speaking of Murder 3rd Drama critic
1954 Final Appointment Mr. Barrett
1955 Reluctant Bride Mr. Fogarty
The Woman for Joe George's Agent Uncredited
One Way Out Sam
Murder Anonymous Fingerprint Expert Uncredited
Windfall Uncredited
1956 Who Done It? Bit Part Uncredited
Breakaway Mitchell
The Green Man Radio Salesman
High Terrace Uncredited
1957 Hour of Decision Calligraphy Expert
Stranger in Town Jeweller
1958 Blind Spot Garage Mechanic Uncredited
Stormy Crossing Garage Owner
1959 The Boy and the Bridge Bridge Mechanic
1960 The Day They Robbed the Bank of England Bank Official Uncredited
Follow That Horse! Auctioneer Uncredited
1962 Go to Blazes Warder
1963 This Sporting Life Charles Slomer
1965 You Must Be Joking! Husband
1967 The White Bus Mayor
1968 If.... Mr. Kemp: Staff
1969 It All Goes to Show Councillor Henry Parker
The Bed Sitting Room Father
1970 Spring and Port Wine Mr. Aspinall
Some Will, Some Won't Police Sergeant
The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens John Dickens
Fragment of Fear Mr. Nugent
The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer Ferret
1971 A Hole Lot of Trouble Whitehouse
Dad's Army Captain Mainwaring
1972 The Ruling Class Daniel Tucker
Adolf Hitler – My Part in His Downfall Major Drysdale
1973 Theatre of Blood Horace Sprout
O Lucky Man! Mr. Duff / Charlie Johnson / Dr. Munda
No Sex Please, We're British Mr. Bromley
1974 Man About the House Spiros
1976 The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones Dr. Thwackum
1977 The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It Dr. William Watson, M.D.
1979 The Lady Vanishes Charters
1980 Sweet William Captain Walton
1982 Britannia Hospital Guest Patient

Awards

BAFTAs

Year Award Category Title Result
1969 BAFTA TV Awards Best Actor Dad's Army Nominated
1970 BAFTA TV Awards Best Light Entertainment Performance Dad's Army Nominated
1972 BAFTA TV Awards Best Light Entertainment Performance Dad's Army Nominated
1973 BAFTA Film Awards Best Supporting Actor O Lucky Man! Won
1974 BAFTA TV Awards Best Light Entertainment Performance Dad's Army Nominated
1974 BAFTA TV Awards Best Actor Microbes and Men and David Copperfield Nominated
1977 BAFTA TV Awards Best Light Entertainment Performance Dad's Army Nominated

References

  1. GRO Register of Births: DEC 1915 7b 1413 HAYFIELD – Arthur Lowe, mmn = Ford
  2. GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1982 32 0628 BIRMINGHAM – Arthur Lowe, DoB = 22 September 1915
  3. GRO Register of Marriages: MAR 1948 5d 800 MARYLEBONE – Arthur Lowe = Gatehouse or Cooper
  4. "The Stardom of Suburban Man", Evening News, London, 28 October 1977
  5. John Oliver "Lowe, Arthur (1915–1982)", BFI Screenonline
  6. "'Dad's Army' Press Release". BBC. July 1968. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  7. "Arthur Lowe – The Proud Father", TV Times, 14–20 October 1978
  8. Sale, Jonathan (15 November 2000). "Dad's Army: the story of a classic television show by Graham McCann". The Independent. London: Independent.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 March 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
  9. Arthur Lowe by Graham Lord, Orion 2002, p 189 and 224
  10. "Arthur Lowe with Mike Sammes Singers – How I Won The War". Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  11. "Links with our members:Museums and Vessels:Amazon". World ship trust. Archived from the original on 13 September 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  12. Nevin, Charles (30 October 1994). "Dad's Navy: As Captain Mainwaring, he entertained millions with his pomposity and his delusions of grandeur. But the real Arthur Lowe fancied himself as a different sort of captain". The Independent. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  13. "Amazon – Cocktail Recipe". Makemeacocktail.com. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  14. Hogan, Michael (31 August 2016). "Alcoholism, rape and murder – the dark side of British sitcoms". The Telegraph.
  15. "Arthur Lowe – Pebble Mill at One – BBC – 1982 Last interview Complete". YouTube. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  16. Steven Nolan Show Radio Five Live, 1 December 2007
  17. "Dad's Army captain statue unveiled in Thetford". BBC News. 20 June 2010.
  18. "Arthur Lowe blue plaque". Openplaques.org. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  19. "Blue plaques: Leisure and culture – Derbyshire County Council". Derbyshire.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  20. "Dad's Army star Arthur Lowe honoured with blue plaque". BBC News. 30 August 2011.

Further reading

Two biographies of Arthur Lowe have been published: Arthur Lowe – Dad's Memory by his son Stephen, which was issued in 1997; and more recently, Arthur Lowe by Graham Lord in 2002. In 2000, The Unforgettable Arthur Lowe was part of The Unforgettable series of TV biographies of comedy performers.

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